Publishing and Marketing 03: Women in SFF Part 1

One question that is being asked by many in the wake of the recent SFWA controversy, and all the commentary it has spawned in various places about misogyny and sexism within the publishing industry is: “If I want to read more books by female authors, where do I start?”

Often times, I think it is rather disheartening to hear such a question. Women have been writing books for a long, long time. And for people to not even be aware of that, or for that matter, be able to perform a basic google search about who are the big names right now? Doesn’t speak so well for us as a community. Speaking of the industry in the broadest sense, we are all very close-ranked, and to break out of the apparent restrictions is not easy. Sure its “easy” to get published as a woman, but to receive recognition? That’s an uphill battle.

It all comes down to respect. And when it comes to respect within the publishing industry (or even just in general in daily life), never ever use the word “political correctness”. That’s a dirty word to use, and it betrays a lack of ability to engage, and wilful dismissal of a very serious and ongoing issue that affects us all. Just look at the entire entertainment industry as a whole, whether its novels or comics or movies or even news.

In such a state, it is absolutely essential that we willingly look to broaden our horizons. We should take chances and read outside of our comfort zones, because otherwise we don’t challenge ourselves and we just propagate the “like begets like” scenario and we cannot grow as an individual.

Which is what this editorial, the third in my Publishing and Marketing series, is about: stepping out of your comfort zone. If you’ve never read a book by a female author before, then my suggestions herein are an excellent place to start.

 

NANP: Good Names, Bad Names

Today’s guest on the blog for Names: A New Perspective is Patrick Hester, who hosts the Hugo Award-winning SF Signal Podcast, along with The Functional Nerd Podcast, has self-published a few stories so far, and has also featured in an anthology. Suffice to say, Patrick is one of the busiest bloggers and authors that I know of, given all his various interests. Like some of the previous guests on the blog, I haven’t had the chance to read some of his work as yet, but I do have a copy of one of his recent books, Cahill’s Homecoming, so that should be getting sometime soon. In the meantime, here’s what Patrick has to say on the subject of names.

 

June Reading List Poll

In January and February, I ran two highly successful polls where I asked all the readers of the blog to help me pick my reading list for the following months. The first one was for novels, the second one for comics. I managed to meet the reading goals for the first of those polls, but am still progressing through the second one, mostly because I’ve been traveling a bit too much of late, and reading time has generally been at a premium due to work and more time devoted to my writing.

However, I should be done with it by the end of this month, so keep an eye out for updates on that.

In the meantime, here’s my next reading poll, and this one is for novels once again. Hit the break to find out more.

 

NANP: The Madness of Names

Stopping by the blog today for Names: A New Perspective is John C. Scott, self-publisher extraordinaire and the author of The Legend of Adam Caine and Recon One-Five among others. John is a really involved author from everything I’ve seen and the level of his writing output is crazy high. If I could write half as fast, I’d have at least a novel published this year! I haven’t had a chance to read any of his Adam Caine novels as yet, but they are certainly on the cards, especially after reading his guest post, wherein he talks a bit about his naming conventions. Here you go.

 

NANP: Names And Practicalities

I don’t think it’s really possible for me to be any more excited than I already am at welcoming author and game designer Matt Forbeck to Names: A New Perspective. Starting with his historical horror Titanic/Vampires mash-up Carpathia last year (review) to his TV tie-in Leverage: The Con Job (review) this year, Matt’s been one of those authors that I’ve really enjoyed reading. Whether it’s comics or novels, he’s been one of the most consistent authors for me, evidenced by the fact that his work has made my monthly top reads lists several times since January 2012 (here and here). He has several releases coming up this year, such as the second and third installments of his fantasy noir Shotguns & Sorcery trilogy (more on this here), as well as the fourth 12-for-12 trilogy Monster Academy, plus some secret project and a kickstarter he mentioned a few days ago. So the year looks great for him! Here’s what Matt has to say on the topic of names.

 

Best of the Best Part 2

I last did something like this in July for the six months from January 1st all the way to June 30th. This list is for July 1st and all the way through to December 30th (the last day doesn’t count!). As I mentioned at the end of that list, this isn’t going to be regurgitation of my “Reading Awards” page, but something more varied. The list takes into account everything I’ve read in the last six months.

Let’s see what makes the cut and which comes close then!

 

Advent Reviews Day 20: Hard Times In Dragon City by Matt Forbeck

I’m a huge fan of Matt Forbeck’s work: whether it’s novels or comics. I have yet to read any of his work that I didn’t like, and he has been the most consistent author for me to date, not to mention that he’s also the one I’ve reviewed the most! That creates certain expectations of course, and Hard Times In Dragon City fulfills those expectations quite nicely. As the first Shotguns & Sorcery novel, this is the fourth in his 12-for-12 project in which he aimed to write one 50,000-word novel a month. I’ve read the first trilogy, Matt Forbeck’s Brave New World, and it’s superb superhero fiction. Exciting stuff!

 

Names: A New Perspective Part 2

A little late, but I finally have the schedule of posts down. Post-NaNoWriMo blues and a massive reviewing/reading backlog plus my Advent Reviews series has kept me rather busy. Which reminds me, I still need to do that NaNoWriMo “after-action” report too! Ack! You can read any of the previous posts by using the series tag: “Names A New Perspective“. The previous line-up of authors is here. So, without further ado, here you are.